Indicating means for rope.



F. M. EVERETT.

INDICATING MEANS FOR ROPE.

APPLICATION HLED FEB-11,1914,

1,274,401 Patented Aug. (5, 1918.

wuewlioz FREDERICK M. EVERETT, AUBURN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO COLUMBIALN ROPE COMPANY, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

INDICATHIG MEANS FOR ROPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

Application filed February 11, 1914. Serial No. 818,137.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, FREDERICK M. EVER- n'r'r, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in lu- "dicating Means for Rope; and I do hereby declare the following to be a lull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to rope in which the component elements are twisted in spiral lines longitudinally of the rope and while it is more especially applicable to rope formed of vegetable fiber and embodying yarns twisted into strands and the strands, in turn, twisted to term hawser-laid rope, which latter may, it so desired, be formed into cable-laid rope, it is not desired to limit the invention to rope formed of vegetable fiber as aforesaid, and twisted in the conventional and particular manner stated.

In all ropes formed of component elements laid together in spiral lines, it is of the utmost importance that the elements be so disposed with relation to each other that each will carry a part ot' the load equal to that carried by each of the other parts, and for this reason it has been quite impossible to include with said elements any extraneouselement not designed to bear part of the load, because such extraneous element 1 would prevent the symmetrical and uniform dill arrangement of the rope elements, thereby throwing more or less strain on individual elements and causing the elements to break ccm'atim, with the result that the ultimate strength of the rope would be very materially reduced. The desirabilityof introducing an extraneous element arises from the fact-that it is most important to provide some means whereby each and every part of the rope throughout its entire length may be identified asto its quality and as to its source of production. Attempts to accomplish the desired end have heretofore been made by making one or more of the yarns or elements of a distinctive color, for that was conceived to be the only means whereby" the rope might be made to embody a distinguishing characteristic thrqughout its length, without .intcrtering with the uniformity of the arrangement of elements, as before stated, and by which the distinguishing characteristic might be embodied within the rope, so that it would not be destroyed in use or by reason of wear or accumulations of extraneous matter on the exterior of the rope. Such means for distinguishing the rope, however, has of recent years proven ineffective, because of the liability of confusion in the color scheme among a multitude of different manufacturers and difi'erent grades of rope, for the color scheme has a very limited range, and in use the colors are destroyed by use, by the action of moisture, by oil,'by atmospheric conditions, and by many other causes, to which the rope is subjected in use.

The present invention has for its object to overcome these defects and provide a rope having concealed and protected within it a means whereby the identity and characteristics of the rope may be disclosed by an examination of any part of the rope throughout its length, and which means will not in any wise interfere with the ordinary arrangement or normal action of the elements composing the rope. To this end the invention consists, generally stated, in a rope formed of elements twisted together to lie in lines spirally disposed longitudinally of the rope, and an exceedingly thin, flat and pliant identifying tape incorporated in the interior of the rope between the elements and extending substantially parallel with the same throughout the length of the rope, said tape being of substantially the length of the componentelements of the rope itself, whercby its integrity will be maintained under expansion or contraction of the length of the rope due to strains of the load imposed thereon, or due to strains imposed by the bending and working of the rope in use. Referring to the accompanying draw- 1ngs,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a short section of hawser-lald rope, with one end frayed out to illustrate the present invention; and i Fig. 2 is a similar view of a short section 105 In said drawings, A indicates the yarns of which the strands B are formed, said strands being twisted together to form the hawser-laidrope C of Fig, 1, and three of such hawser-laid ropes are twisted together to form the cable-laid rope D of Fig. 2.

The ropes adopted for illustrating the invention are of conventional construction,

the yarns being formed of vegetable fiber cause it to break while the others remain intact, The arrangement and uniformity of ,the yarns, which are the ultimate elements composing the rope, are of the greatest importance, and in order to provide an identifying characteristic which extends throughout the rope, without causing-the elements 'to be disarranged or throwing a greater strain upon one than upon another, I introduce in the course of manufacture a very thin, fiat and pliant identifying tape G, such tape being located in the interior of one or more of the strands, so as to be effectually surrounded and protected by the yarns or elements composing the. strands and the thickness and dimensions of the tape being such that it does not occupy an appreciable space or cause any appreciable displacement of the elements with relation to each other, but at the same time it is of a length corresponding to that of the elements, and is arranged in the same spiral order in the rope.

In other words, the thin, fiat and pliant tape extends throughout the rope parallel Jwith the yarn and will, therefore elongate or shorten with the yarns themselves by the elongation or shortening of the spiral lines formed by it and bythem.

The thin, flat and pliant tape is preferably of a good wear-resisting substance and may conveniently ample, as 'o cotton, silkor other high grade fiber, and it is preferablyimpregnated with a water repellent substance which will tend to preserve the same more perfectly than the elements of the rope itself will be preserved,

so that its lasting qualities will be greater than the elements of the rope.

Being collapsible transversely, the marker may ,assume or be caused to assume any configuration transversely which will facili- 'tate its incorporation in the rope or to conform to the space which it finds available between the yarns of the rope. but even 11 into a flat condition when the elements 0 the rope are separated so that its identifytifying be a woven tape, such, for ex- This tape may conveniently be either woven in a characteristic manner, colored in various ways with permanent coloring matter, or, as is preferably the case, carry upon it printed impressions as at 9 clearly indeneither the character of the rope, or the source of manufacture, or both, so that any one, even those not familiar with the sources of manufacture, may be able to determine who manufactured the rope, and thus prevent the imposition of unscrupulous manufacturers when rope of the same quality and from the same source is desired by the purchaser.

It is obvious that no amount of wear or dirt, which can become incorporated in the rope through usage can destroy the identifying tape and hence it becomes possible to identify the rope so long as there is any part of the same remainin ,and this consideration is of the greatest 1mportance,-both to the manufacturer and to the user, and in spite of this desirable characteristic the rope, although its surface be uneven and subject to abrasion, is not affected adversely in any way, in so far as its strength'and lasting qualities are concerned, a result which could not be attained were there introduced into the rope any extraneous element which 7 could, by any possibility, be subjected to -I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a selfidentifying rope formed of elements twisted together, whereby the elements are spirally disposed longitudinally of the rope, and a means for identifying the rope comprising a thin, flat and pliant tape incorporated in the interior of the rope between the elements and extending substantially parallel with the same throughout the length of the rope wholly within its boundaries, and without displacing said elements relatively to each other in such manner to affect their normal strength and operation of the rope as a whole, whereby each portion of the rope carries a permanent identification with it independent of the strain bearing elements of the rope.

2. As an article of manufacture, a selfidentifying rope formed of strands, and

having incorporated within the same, and extending throughout its length, a thin, flat and plianttape provided with rope identifythough collapsed 1t may be readily opened mg characteristics, which tape lies wholly within the boundaries of the rope without dlsplaclng any of the rope strands so-as to operation as strain bearing elements.

3. As an article of manufacture, a self- ,identifying rope formed of strands, each strand embodying yarns twisted together, at

least one of said strands having incorporated in the interior thereof between the yarns, a thin, flat, wear-resisting identifying tape extending substantially parallel with the yarns throughout the length of the rope and lyin wholly within the boundaries of the rope om end to end, whereby the identifying tape is inexposed to causes which might destroy its capacity for identification.

4. The combination with a rope whose surface is normally uneven and subject to abrasion, of a flat ribbon having matter printed upon it, collapsible transversely, arranged within the rope and surrounded and protected by the regular rope structure, whereby information regarding the surroundin rope is permanently associated therewit notwithstanding its superficial roughness and abrasion.

F.-M. EVERETT. it

USSEIL, SMITH "B. KIMBALL. 

